Calcutta, Sept. 24: A constable allegedly shot his wife during an argument this morning in their house at Sarsuna in Thakurpukur, explained to his son that it was an accident and went missing till he was arrested in the evening.

Police said Santosh Sarkar, of the special branch, had picked up a quarrel with his wife, 44-year-old Gita, around nine in the morning. Their son, Prasanta, was present in the room, but withdrew to another one.

Suddenly he heard a gunshot and came running in to find his mother writhing in pain in a pool of blood beside the pistol. “When Prasanta asked his father what happened, he told him that his mother was toying with the gun and it went off,” said additional superintendent of police R.K. Singh.

Sarkar took a profusely bleeding Gita in a rickshaw to a local doctor, who was frightened by the bullet wound and refused to treat her.

Sarkar then headed for a nursing home in the same rickshaw. On the way, he realised that Gita had expired. He went home, laid her body on the bed and left after telling Prasanta that he would be back soon.

Prasanta soon found out that his mother had died and raised an alarm. Neighbours came running and on seeing the blood-soaked body, they went to the Thakurpukur police station to lodge a complaint.

Sarkar, who had come to Calcutta, went to Thakurpukur police station in the evening and told the officer-in-charge about the incident. The OC, who had received a complaint from Sarkar’s neighbours, arrested him.

Singh said Sarkar was not supposed to carry home the pistol issued to him. “We are investigating why he carried the pistol home,” he said.

After preliminary investigation, the police have learnt that the relationship between Sarkar and his wife had soured. “They apparently did not have anything to complain about. Sarkar was earning enough to run his family. We are probing the possibilities of an extra-marital relationship and whether Gita suspected her husband,” an official said.